Girls Who Surf™ highlights rad female surfers all over the world – exploring their passion for surfing and what it means to them. Meet Cori Rose (@corina_rose), a surfer based in Long Beach, California & listen to her story here.
Hello, my name is Cori and I’m a Girl Who Surfs.
Where are you from and how long have you been surfing?
I am originally from California’s central coast which means where I grew up was in San Luis Obispo County. I grew up surfing beaches like Morro Bay (the big rock that’s right there) and Cayucas. Those were kinda my go-to spots but I actually grew up a little bit inland in a little town called Atascadero. Not too many people know that but I grew up there and now I live in Long Beach so I’m in Southern California.
I’ve been surfing for 18 years. On the central coast I learned how to surf when I was a teenager and just always had a dream of living and surfing in Southern California because the water’s warmer and surfing has a lot of history here and I was always drawn to it.
Why do you surf and what does it mean you?
I started surfing because it seemed like the coolest thing you could possibly do. Around the time that I started surfing around the early 2000s it seemed to have a revival in popular culture. “Blue Crush” came out, Roxy Girls, Billabong Girls were becoming a thing and maybe I got caught up in the marketing of it or maybe it was fate – I don’t know but I was drawn to it. My older brother surfed and it seemed like the coolest thing. That was why I started surfing and why I still surf.
I surf still because it’s really fun. It’s unlike anything else you can do. It’s really freaking fun. It’s a beautiful combination of spending time in nature and you get that refresh of getting your hair wet – it physically feels really nice. The act of riding a wave. I think it becomes really commonplace because you do it a lot. It becomes something you take for granted but when you step back and think about what a special thing it is to stand up on a wave in the ocean it’s pretty cool. More than anything it’s really freaking fun.
Surfing has become who I am – how I see myself and how I identify myself. It’s part of who I am. It means that it’s part of my identity. Surfing means something that I can use as an outlet to express myself. It’s a beautiful means of self expression and I love it for that reason.
Describe your hometown and what it is like being a surfer there.
I currently live in Long Beach, CA. It’s pretty urban even though it has “beach” in the name. There isn’t a huge surf culture here – it isn’t really a surfable wave directly in Long Beach. There were jetties that were built in order to block the swells in this area for cargo ships. The small community that exists I love because similar to the town I grew up in, you have to really want to surf to surf. You really have to be motivated to keep doing it. I find myself having to stay motivated to go surf. I love that about it – it kind of weeds out fair-weather surfers a bit. The people that actually surf that live in the city like I do really love it and really want to do it.
I love Long Beach because it’s a very diverse community – it’s the most city-like place I’ve ever lived. It’s a cool place – come visit! Being a surfer in urban areas takes a little of a commute. I admire people who live further inland than I and you’re hauling your gear to get everywhere. I need to wake up early, load my car up, deal with traffic and get to my local spot.
What is your favorite local surf spot and why?
Do I really want to share this? Just kidding. My favorite spot is in Huntington Beach and north of the pier a little bit. If you go north of the Huntington pier there are some cliffs and it’s actually the local dog beach. It’s probably not the best wave in the area but it’s pretty consistent and pulls in a good amount of swell so there’s always something to ride there. Unlike a lot of spots that attract a lot of talented surfers there’s a really mellow crowd here. As someone who doesn’t love jacking for waves or crowds I feel more at home there. I love that it’s really chill and everyone’s very nice. It’s a good vibe and because it’s a dog beach there are also tons of little dogs running around which is super cute. They run up to you when you get out of the water. It’s awesome.
What do you love about your local female surf community?
What I love about my local female surf community is that there is one and it’s growing. Now that I’m getting older I see lots of younger girls out in the water and I feel like I see myself in some of them. It’s cool to see how commonplace surfing is becoming for women and young girls. It’s not just accepted – it’s encouraged, romanticized and cute. Which I think is great. I think that it’s become a more accepting place for people of all backgrounds, genders, colors.
I love that the female surf community is growing especially because I think getting into surfing is really difficult. Just like learning anything new, it’s not easy, it’s not comfortable, it’s not even necessarily fun. Especially as you get older it can be really daunting and scary and intimidating. I’m always excited when I think about the fact that surfing has a bit of a learning curve to it and it takes some bravery. Anytime you see a girl out in the water, that’s a special girl. She got over some level of fear, intimidation, or barrier to try something that’s not easy. I feel like we’re a special breed because we’re trying something that’s not easy, not dominated by women and not always accepting of women. I love that there are more and more girls getting out there and being brave, falling down, getting scraped and being badasses..
Watch Cori’s full episode below!
